The New York Times, Real Estate Section, Issue: January 24, 1999

By Lisa Prevost

Fresh From the Factory: Upscale Homes

            John and Barbara Campbell aren’t your conventional mansion developers. A husband and wife team who generally buy and renovate houses for resale, the Campbell’s made a foray into speculative mansion construction last summer with an 8,900 square foot Georgian-style estate in Greenwich, Connecticut.

            The white clapboard and stone mansion certainly possesses the sort of luxuries one would expect in a property priced at nearly $5 million. The wine cellar is equipped with a tasting table and is reached through a convenient hidden access way in the upstairs bar.  The master suite includes a generous dressing room and walk-out balcony.  And among the house’s many details are classical columns in the main entry halls, mahogany paneling in the library and a front-to-back hallway that affords a direct view of the rear property from the front entrance.

            But the basic parts of this mansion went up much quicker than most.  That’s because the Campbell’s chose to order the house from a factory, thereby shaving three months off their construction time.  The house was delivered last July as 23 separate boxes, whose customized modules were carefully fitted into place with a crane.  Mr. Campbell then set his contractors to work on the extensive work – about 70 percent of the actual construction – of adding all the fine exterior and interior details that are too time-intensive for the assembly line.

            Such a project would have been unthinkable even a decade ago, and Mr. Campbell acknowledges that initially his plans raised some eyebrows at historic estate next door.  Though the modular mansion is still a rarity, its very existence is indicative of the growing acceptance of the modular building among buyers of upscale homes throughout the metropolitan area.  “This is not an inferior house, this is a superior house,” said Mr. Campbell, “because I was able to use what modular companies are good at framing.”

            Speed of construction is also a key factor, as demonstrated one day last month when Westchester Modular Homes assembled a four-bedroom colonial in Armonk, NY, in just seven hours.  Beginning at 8:30a.m., the first box measuring about 16 by 46 feet, was hoisted off its trailer by a crane and fitted onto the waiting foundation to form half of the first floor.  A ground crew held onto guide ropes at the box’s corners, maneuvering it much like a balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

            Two more modules, one a family room addition, were added to the first floor.  Another two formed the second story.  Then, after the boxes were nailed and secured, the crane lifted the attached, hinged roof into place, finishing the job by 4 p.m. With the remaining detail work nearly completed, the 3,450 square-foot house with a three-car basement garage is on the market for $729,000.

            While exact statistics on the numbers of modular homes and their share of the marketplace are lacking, builders talk of increasing acceptance, especially in the construction of higher-priced homes Fred Hallahan, president of the Baltimore-based Hallahan Associates, an industry consulting form, said that “an increasing proportion of the metro area are going toward second and third-time buyers, as opposed to the 15 years ago, when it was mainly first-time buyers.”

            Even a basic modular starter ranch is fancier than it used to be.  Many modular home manufacturers have upgraded their design capabilities to cater to individual customer preferences, and expanded their offerings to include more styles and high-end features.

            “When I started to do these things 18 or 20 years ago, they didn’t even have two-story models – they were all one step above a mobile home,” said Michael Waldron, owner of LDM Homes, a northern New Jersey builder who uses Excel modules, manufactured in Liverpool, PA.  “Now, the most popular house is a two-story house, and the average size is 2,600 to 3,000 square feet.” John Calucci, vice president of sales for Westchester Modular Homes, which built        the Campbell mansion at its factory in Wingdale, N.Y., in Dutchess County, concurred.  “Four or five years ago, the average colonial going out here was 2,000 to 2,500 square feet,” he said.  “Today, I’m building more of the 3,000 to 3,300 square foot colonials.  About 60 percent of our production or better is two-story colonials.

            Most manufacturers also offer ranches, cape Cods, split levels and contemporaries usually in several different designs, and sell their homes through authorized builders.  Some will even work with builders to duplicate stick-built designs for customers bearing photos of their dream house.  There are limitations on what can be done with modular construction – highly detailed homes and intricate floor plans are sometimes too complicated – but buyers who are willing to work within the concept can often save considerable time and money.

            Builders estimated the average consumer savings on a modular home over a comparable stick-built home at 10 to 15 percent, depending on land costs.  The savings can be much greater on more expensive houses, primarily from reduced labor costs, said Steve West, chief executive of Homeworks Modular Homes in Ronkonkoma, NY.

            “The acceptance of modular has coincided with the explosion of interest in larger, more expensive homes,” said Mr. West, whose company is a dealer for and builder of New Era Dwelling Systems, a module manufacturer in Strattanville, PA, “I’ve been in business for 14 years and I’ve not seen it like this even since the good times in the 80’s”.

            After a modest slump in the metropolitan area, modular housing starts (about half of which are attached housing) have in fact rebounded to the levels enjoyed in the 80’s, hovering around 6 to 8 percent of all new housing units in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, according to Mr. Hallahan. The difference now he said, is that modular represent a more stable share of the housing pie than they did 10 years ago.

            Computer-driven advantages in design flexibility are a key factor in the industry’s repositioning.  But the appeal to the higher-end buyers has also been aided by a generational shift, suggested Don O. Carlson, editor and publisher of Automated Builder, an industry trade magazine.  Whereas older generations tend to associate modular housing with the cheap-looking, bland construction that characterized the earliest boxes to roll off the assembly line, Mr. Carlso said, younger home buyers are less likely to carry such preconception.  In their attempts to win over the high-end home buyer, manufacturers are also using Web Sites and factory tours to educate consumers about the modular-building process.

            The modules put together to form the homes are six-sided boxes that are up to 95 percent complete by the time they go out the factory doors.  Modular homes must meet the building codes in the states to which they’re being delivered, so an independent third-party inspection company approves them in the factory.

            Once the house is in place, the local building inspector checks the electrical and plumbing tie-ins, as well as the connecting bolts and girders, said Charles A. Saverine, building inspector for Darien, Connecticut. “Generally, there’s not a problem,” he said.  “Basically, they’re sound.”

            Because each box has both floor and ceiling beams, as opposed to shared floor ceiling beams between floors, modular homes tend to be very sturdy and quiet.  And because the boxes must withstand the rigors of transport, Mr. Carlso said, modulars are “the best house we build in terms of strength.”

            Manufacturers attribute their comparatively lower price tags to factory building techniques, a controlled process that eliminates waste and has a predictable schedule.  There are no last-minute cost additions or delays – a typical house generally takes one or two weeks of factory work.

            “Everybody shows up every day – you have all the carpenters, all the plumbers, all the sheetrockers, and the house just goes up, like a car on the assembly line,” said Michael V. Buzzeo, president of Modular & More, a Stamford based dealer/builder of New England Homes, which are made in Greenland, NH.

            Modular-home manufacturers are also working more closely with their vendors to use just-in-time inventory techniques and bulk-buying power to offer customers the cherry cabinets, Corian countertops, Jacuzzi tubs, gabled roofs they’re looking for at lower prices.  Home buyers can maximize their saving by choosing from among factory-stocked amenities rather than special-ordering such items.

            Robyn and Paul Bova knew enough about modular homes to know they wanted one but they were still surprised by how much house they got for their money.  With two children and a third on the way, the family had outgrown their three-bedroom ranch in Stamford, CT, and began looking around for land.  Born and reared in Stamford, Mrs. Bova was determined to stay close to family and friends even though affordable lots were scarce.

            Last May, when Mrs. Bova saw a New England Homes sign advertising a quarter acre lot just off High Ridge Road, she called immediately.  And last month, just one week before the baby was born, the Bovas moved into their new four-bedroom colonial.

            Sold through Modular & More for $300,000 the house came with a two-car garage, nine-foot ceilings, a sold oak kitchen, deck and walk-out basement.  The quarter acre lot cost $50,000.  Mrs. Bova said she looked at comparable stick-built houses in Stamford priced closer to $600,000.

            “We would never have been able to buy a house like this for this price,” said Mrs. Bova, who is co-owner of a dance studio, “ I have friends who are spending well into $400’s and then they have to gut the house.”

            The trade-off for the Bovas was a less-than-prime location, for High Ridge Road is heavily traveled. But Edward A. Sandor Jr., vice president of Modular & More, said there are plenty of buyers like the Bovas out there. He estimated that he could sell two or three houses a month in Stamford if he could find enough land.

            In Long Island, the owners of Homeworks Modular Homes are marketing their own line of “designer” custom homes on the Internet.  Through a partnership agreement, Homeworks sells homes exclusively designed for them by Douglas Cutler, a Connecticut-based architect, and manufactured by new Era Dwelling Systems.

            Visitors to the company’s Web site: http://www.modulararchitecture.com will find a variety of Cutler Series homes.